1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing thermosetting finishing powders to be used in coating processes in powder form. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for producing a thermosetting finishing powder which is high in thermal fluidity during baking when applied as a coating to such base materials as metal and is very high in such properties as thermal stability, resistance to solvents, metal adhesion, mechanical strength and durability against weathering when it has been thermoset.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
In the coating of metals and the like, solvent-type paints made by dispersing synthetic resins and pigments in solvents, water-soluble paints and emulsion paints have been extensively used. Recently a technique for coating paint in the form of a powder free from such volatile ingredients as solvent or water by an electrostatic coating method or fluidized bed process has been developed and has been practiced to a certain extent.
The resin ingredients most conventionally used today for finishing powders typically include vinyl chloride resins or epoxy resins. However, these resins exhibit defects which tend to greatly restrict their practical use in paints. For example, the vinyl chloride type finishing powders are thermally unstable due to the dehydrochlorination of vinyl chloride, are so thermoplastic that they have low resistance to solvents and adhere so poorly to metals that a primer must be used in most cases. On the other hand, the epoxy resin type finishing powders are made by using a curing agent such as a polyamide, polyamine or acid anhydride, but are so low in durability to weathering that they cannot be used for out-of-doors applications.
In thermoplastic solid acrylic resins wherein the reactive monomers are not copolymerized, even if a cross-linking agent is added, a three-dimensional cross-linked structure cannot be obtained and the resin remains in a two-dimensional linear structure. Therefore, in order to maintain mechanical strength and resistance to solvents which will endure during practical use it has been necessary to greatly increase the molecular weight. However, in general, in order for the resin to be practically used as a finishing powder, it is most important that the resin has high thermal fluidity. If the molecular weight of the thermoplastic acrylic resin is reduced in order to obtain the high thermal fluidity, the mechanical strength and resistance to solvents are also greatly reduced and no practicable finishing powders are obtained.
Today conventional thermosetting acrylic resins are extensively used in solution-type paints which are made by including an aminoformaldehyde resin or epoxy resin as a cross-linking agent. However, for several reasons, thermosetting acrylic resins are not advantageously used as resins for a finishing powder. For example, when a conventional thermosetting acrylic resin is used for a finishing powder, it is very difficult to initiate a cross-linking reaction after the powder is heated to a fluid state and a smooth thermoset painted surface is not obtained. Another reason is that it is substantially difficult to produce a solid thermosetting acrylic resin which can be used for a finishing powder in a form containing no volatile ingredient. Presently known polymerization processes for producing thermoplastic acrylic solid resins include bulk-polymerization, suspension-polymerization and emulsion-polymerization. However, a thermosetting acrylic solid resin which can be used as a finishing powder is difficult to produce by any of these known polymerization processes.
More specifically, when a thermosetting acrylic is used in formation of a powdery thermosetting solid coating composition, unlike the case where it is used as a molding material, the weight average molecular weight (Mw) should not exceed about 100,000 and, by correlation, the number average molecular weight (Mn) should not exceed about 30,000. Thus, unless the number average molecular weight of a thermosetting acrylic solid resin for a finishing powder is controlled so as to be less than 30,000, the thermal fluidity or flowability is so low that the resin cannot be put into practical use. In that case, such a large amount of polymerization initiator is required that when attempting production by the bulk polymerization process, it is difficult to control the heat generated by the polymerization. When attempting production by the suspension-polymerization process, since the functional groups of the monomer impart high water-solubility, it is difficult to complete the polymerization while maintaining stability of the suspension state; therefore the suspension-polymerization process cannot be adopted to any great extent. When attempting the production by the emulsion-polymerization process, in practice, the emulsifier is mixed into the painted film and a weather proof painted film cannot be obtained.